Reliability of Center of Pressure Measures for Assessing the Development of Sitting Postural Control in Infants With or at Risk of Cerebral Palsy

Abstract

Objective To establish the test-retest reliability of linear and nonlinear measures, including intra- and inter- session reliability, when used to analyze the center of pressure (COP) time series during the development of infant sitting postural control in infants with or at risk for cerebral palsy (CP). Design Longitudinal study. Setting University hospital laboratory. Participants Infants with or at risk for CP (N=18; mean age at entry in the study ± SD, 13.1.7 ± 3.6mo). Interventions Not applicable. Main Outcome Measures Infant sitting COP data was recorded for 3 trials at each session (2 sessions for each month within 1 week) for 4 consecutive months. The linear COP parameters of root mean square and range of sway for both the anterior-posterior and the medial-lateral directions, and sway path, were calculated. In addition, the nonlinear parameters of approximate entropy, Lyapunov exponent (LyE), and correlation dimension for both directions were also calculated. Intra-session and inter-session reliability was computed by the intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC). Results Regarding nonlinear measures, LyE showed high intra-session and inter-session ICC values in comparison to all other parameters evaluated. Intra-session and inter-session reliability increased overall in the last 2 months of the data collections and as sitting posture improved. Conclusions Our results suggested that the methodology presented is reliable way of examining the development of sitting postural control in infants with or at risk for CP, and the reliability results generally parallels values found in sitting postural behavior in typical infants. Therefore, this methodology may be helpful in examining efficacy of therapy protocols directed at advancing sitting postural control in infants with motor developmental delays.

Effect of treadmill gait training on static and functional balance in children with cerebral palsy: a randomized controlled trial

“…These children exhibit a number of limitations stemming from postural instability on the performance of static and dynamic tasks, such as sitting, standing and walking [7][8][9][10] . The clinical condition of CP includes neuromuscular deficits, such as the loss of selective motor control and alterations in muscle tone, leading to an imbalance between agonist and antagonist muscles, compromised coordination, sensory alterations and weakness 11 .…”

Speed and Rhythm Affect Temporal Structure of Variability in Reaching Poststroke: A Pilot Study

“…To retain the inherent temporal structure of variability in the data, kinematic trajectories were not filtered (Rapp, Albano, Schmah, & Farwell, 1993). The use of unfiltered data when evaluating the temporal structure of variability is a standard approach to evaluate how movement variability changes over time and has been used in multiple studies (Kyvelidou, Harbourne, Shostrom, & Stergiou, 2010; Sethi, Patterson, et al, 2013; Stergiou, Moraiti, Giakas, Ristanis, & Georgoulis, 2004). The kinematic data described here resulted in four time series, one for each joint (shoulder, elbow, wrist, and index finger PIP).…”

The regulation of balance in the children presenting with severe cerebral palsy following the treatment with the use of the locomotor training in combination with the electrical stimulation of leg muscles and spinal cord

“…У этих детей отмечена нормализация механизмов поддержания баланса, что проявлялось значимым снижением величин параметров L и S при ОГ (р<0,05). Роль ФЭСМ, использование которой в комбинации с локомоторным тренингом больных ДЦП приводит к улучшению их вертикальной устойчивости, считается доказанной [11]. Этот эф-фект может быть обусловлен созданием целена-правленной и синхронизированной с шагательным рефлексом интенсивной афферентации со стороны стимулируемых мышц [12].…”